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I have an Asus M5A99FX Pro R.2 and all the available SATA ports are being used.
From the user manual of the MB it seems it uses the AMD Chipset 990FX/SB950 (see picture below), yet even after reading from the user manual and from different forums I am still not sure if I can add more HDD.
Because I have more HDD then SATA ports, I was considering to buy a port multiplier from ebay like this, connect it to one of the onboard SATA port and attach the spare drives I have ( 4 x 320GB) to the card. So total would be 8 drives: 4x80GB (onboard STA) + 4x320GB SATA from the multiplier.
Would it work with this MB?
I am using Ubuntu 14.04
simple mind
Posted 2016-01-25T17:59:52.303
Reputation: 13
Thanks, but how do I make sure that my MB has more than one IO controller? and how do i ensure that i am using the SB950? – simple mind – 2016-01-25T18:35:18.933
Your motherboard specifically says it has multiple I/O controllers, per the image, you provided. You can either figure out which ports are connected to which controller through Device Manager or look at the physical locations of those ports and see which controller they are connected to. – Ramhound – 2016-01-25T18:49:50.613
ok, thanks. Is there a limit on how many drives one can add? Also, Per your experience, can i create a Raid 5 system at this point or do i need to reinstall the whole OS? – simple mind – 2016-01-25T19:12:16.440
Per your image, the SB950 ports are grey, and the ASMedia ports are dark Blue. As for your raid volume, assuming your port multiplier card has a raid controller, you can create a raid5 volume at any time, but if you want to have an OS on it, yes, you will need to rebuild the OS. It doesn't look like this multiplier card has a raid chip however. I have never used a multiplier that did not perform its own raid, so I have no idea if the SB950 will be able to assemble an array with the multiplier's disks. – Frank Thomas – 2016-01-25T19:27:08.067
Ubuntu is already installed, so no need to reinstall it. But for storage purposes, if I connect 4x320GB HDD to the multiplier card and this to one of the port on the MB (grey) where there are also 2x320Gb HDD, can I create a 6x320GB Raid 5 system from the BIOS? – simple mind – 2016-01-25T19:32:59.027
no idea. like I said, I've never tried to use a fake raid controller through an external port multiplier that does not support raid by itself. – Frank Thomas – 2016-01-25T20:08:46.450
what RAID 5 controller would you suggests/have you used in Linux? I can't afford much, but open to a small long-term investment – simple mind – 2016-01-25T20:10:34.773
I recommend you open a new question specifically about using a port multiplier with a motherboards raid implementation, and close this one out (as it has been fully answered as originally asked). – Frank Thomas – 2016-01-25T20:19:12.960
ok, thanks for your help. I'll ask specifically ask about the card in another question, but you guys surely solved my dilemma! – simple mind – 2016-01-25T20:41:43.710